Vehicle-top.



E. G. ODETTE.

VEHICLE TOP.

APPLICATION FILED JULY 1. 1914.

1,164,852. Patented Dec. 21, 1915.

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COLUMBIA PLANDGEAPH 50.. WASHINGTON. n. c.

E. G. ODETTE.

VEHICLE TOP.

APPLICATION FILED JULY 7. 1914.

1, 164,852 Patented Dec. 21, 1915.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

344M105! IF z? a. oaezw MM 61W COLUMBIA PLANOG RAPH c0..WAsH|NaTd D-C.

vsmermror;

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Dec. 21, 1915.

r ciqeti efile i v W i. e al ai 22 3 To all whom. itvrwayconcern Be ,it knownthat I, IEDIMUND G QDe'r'IIn, citizen, of the .United, States, residing at: ta

Jackson, in the county ofda ckson. I of M chigan, have invented certa n new and useful Improyen entsin Vehicle-T995,

of which the. following is a spe cification.

' Thisinvention relates to vehicle tops, and

more particularly to an improvement, vin automobile topsof that type employed upon touringor other largecars. In th s part c ularnty'pe of automobile, jtop, bowsvare arranged to support the rear portio n of the top, these bows. being connected to, .the bocly at opposite sides. of fthe rear seat'andfthel forward portion of the topis supported by,

other bows which. are, detachably connected with the. body of a the. car at opposite sides of the front seat. In,raisingand'lrnvering the top, it-is necessary to disconnect the last,- 7

mentioned bows front the body, which usutally requires the services of; two persons,

and then to carry these 7 bows rearward-1y a rlt n ct h m to he. bmeke w ran d a adjas tf h PQ I-ltI ffma o f the, first-mentioned or rear bows with, the

body. fact, not only arethe servicesof.

two persons required toraise and lower such a top', but considerable time and labor must be s nt n p p ly de e h ork;

The present invention therefore aims to 7. provide an automobilegtop of the class deibed, in w ic th arr ngemen o the bows and the bracingmeans therefor such s t b iate use f: he t eat, Sup o ing bows and to enable driver of the carto raise or lower, the top by himself; and without the necessity of leaving the machine. t

tion im er id br cin member for the bows'which carry the'for wardportion of the top, sobonstructedthat it may be readily manipulated to permit fof the forward por tion of the, top beingbolted back or raised and which will automatically lock when the top has been moved to raised p i i n- In the accompanying drawings: Figuregl is a vertical longitudinal, sectional? view illustrating the top construction embodying the present invention, thetop'being shown ised. n full. line and, o ered. in. c o ted. lines. Tig. 2 is a perspective view ofjt hel bracing member employed for bracing the bows carrying the forward ortion of the top. Fig. 3 is a view simi ar to Fig. 1,

illustrating :the top partly folded Fig. 4 is a s milar (view, illustrating the top folded or llowered.

Corresponding and likevparts are referred. to in the following description and indicated all the Views of theacCorhpanying drawings by the same reference, characters.

Injthe drawings, the vehicle body is indicated ,in. general bythe, numeral 1 and the coverjof the top is indicated by the numeral The. coverlis supported, at the rear side of thefltop, by meansof bows,,one indicated hy-the numeral '3 and the other by the numeral t. The, arms of the bow 3 are'pivotally, connected, as, at.5,ttothe body at opposite sides "of the rear seat, and the arms of thebow'etare pivotally connected, as at 6, to the armsfof the bow 3. These bows 3and 4 are of tliejordina'ry constructionand the bow,3 is arranged to extend approximately vertically when the top is in raised-position and theibow 4, insuch p osition'ofthe top, is arranged to extend upwardly and rear wardly fromthe how 3. When the top is int fol dedgposition, the bow 3 is of course arrangedfto lie above thebow 4:, as shown clearly in dotted lines in Fig. 1 and in Fig, 4:. I portion of top includes a bow having a connecting portion 7 and spaced arms, each of which includes a section 8 andv a section}. The sections 8 and 9 are connect Gaby means of avjoint 10, the pivot for this joint'being provided with a, stud extension 11, thefp urpose of which will be presently explained, The rear ends ofthe arms 9 are pivptally connected, as at 12, tothe arms of the bow 3 near the arch of the bow, and \vhen the top is raised the bow 7 is extended forwardly andsubstantially horizontally, asshownfih Fig. 1, thesections 8 and 9 of the arms of; the bow being of course, in such position ofthe bow, in alinement. Theforward side of the cover 2 is of course attachedto the arch of the bow? and asameans for supporting that portion of the cover which extends between the arch, of the said bow 'Z. a nd' the archtof the bow 3, there is provided a bow '13fhaving its arms pivotally connected'at. their inner ends, as at 14:, to the "sections 9 of the arms of the bow 7. WYhenthe top is in raised position, the bow 1 3'is arranged to extend forwardly and up- --war d'ly from the bow 7 in the position The' support I for the forward of the drawings and which will now bode-1 tion and to brace the bow? so that it cannot accidentally fold, there-is provided a device which is clearly illustrated in Fig. '2

I at each side of the top, and each of the members comprises two integrally connected angularly extending arms, one indicated at 15 and the other at 16. The arm 15 is the longer of the two and at its free end is provided with an'opening 17 pivotallyi' receiving a stud 18- which projects through the section 8 of the respective arm of the bow 7., At the juncture of its 'arms l 5" and 16, each bracing member is provided with an opening 19 receiving api-vot 20 carried by an attaching plate 21 secured. to the respective arm of the bow 13. The arm 16 extends at an acute angle to the arm 15 and is provided with a'widened portion or head 22 near its free end, this portion being formed with a slot or opening 23 to receive thestud portion 11 of the pivot 10. Belowthe'portion 22, the arm 16 has its terminal portion curved'laterally, as at 214,- so that'as' the top is raised, this end ofthe arm will ride over the stud- 11 until the stud is inengagement in the slot or opening 23. The bracing member is of course formed from resilient metal.

Referring now to Fig. 1 of the drawings, it will be observed that when the top is in raised position,rthe stud 11 will be in engagement in the opening 23 and that the arm 15- will e xtendr'downwardly and forwardly from the bow 13, the arm 1-6 extending substantially vertical. Inasmuch as the arms 15 and ,16 are connected respectively toythe' pivot 18 and stud-11, a firm support will be afforded the bow 1'3 and the sections 8 and'9 of the bow 7 will be prevented against accidental folding or When it is desired to lower the top, it is only necessary ,to' spring the arms 16 in- V wardly so asto disengage them from the one of the rear bows, a jointed forward bow studsrll, whereupon the sections 8 and 9 may be folded with respect to each other and with respect to the bow 3. It will be obvious that this canbe'readily accomplished by one person and without the neces'.-

sity of leaving the car.

'Having thus described the invention,

what is claimed 'as new is '1. In a vehicle top, the combination with connected therewith anda bow connected with'the forward bow, of a bracing and supcollapse.

porting member pivotally connected with ,the forward and last-mentioned bows, V a stud carriedby the forward bow, and means uponthe bracing member cooperating with the stud to hold the jointed sections of the forward-bow in alinement' 2. .In a vehicle top, the combination with one of'the rearbows. a jointed forward bow connected therewith and provided at its joint with a stud and a bow connected with the forward bow, of a bracing and supporting member having relatively angularly positioned arms, one of said arms being pivotallyconnectedwith the forward. bow and the member at the junction of its arms being pivoted to the'l'ast-mentioned bow, and

3. In a vehicle top, the combination with" one of the" rear bows,a"jointed forward bow connected therewith and provided. at its joint with'a stud and a bowconnected: with the forward bow, o'fa bracing and support.-

ing member having relatively angularly positioned arms, one of said arms being pivoted ,tothe forward bow and the member at the juncture of its arms being pivoted to the third-mentioned bow, the otherarin of the member being provided with a seat for the stud and beinglaterally curved adjacent the said seat.

4. In a vehicle top, a

rear bow, afforwarjd bow comprising jointed sections, a bow con- I. nected w1th the. forward 'bow, a bracing member pivotally connected with the'jointed forward section of the forward bow, .the

member being pivotally connected with'the third-mentioned bow, a stud located at the joint between the sections of the forward bow, and means upon .the'said member detach'ab ly engaging said studs 5. In a'vehicletop, a rear bow, a forward bow having ointed sections and the rear section thereof being connected foldably. with said rear bow, a bow foldablv mounted upon the said rear-section of the forward bow, a

stud at thejoint between the sections'of the,

forward bow, amember pivoted to the third mentioned bow and to'the forward section of the forward bow, and means upon-the member. detachably: engage'able with the said stud. t. v T In testimony whereof I afiix mysignature in presence of two witnesses.

I EDMUND G. ODETTE. [11. s],

W nes V 7: r JOHN EHENIGAN,

' KATE A. -W1LLIs..

the Commissioner Patents, 

